roamer2

I am a traveling nurse and have just completed a contract at Swedish Hospital Seattle,Wa. They have an EICU program that is just starting to work. Personally I liked it working nights it is refreshing to have a doctor to talk to who #1 is awake, #2 can actually see not only the monitor but also the patient. and can actually know what is going on. There is some resistance from some of the nurses who take it as criticism when they call with questions about the care the patient is recieving... All in all I think it will benefit the patients and the nurses. By the way I am and experienced ICU nurse of more than 30 years.. We old dogs appreciate new tricks no matter what they say.

The power is in the nurses themselves. That are treated with more or less respect is because it is what we allow. Hospital administrations and doctors historically have had the attitude "if you don't like it here go somewhere else we can always get another one.". Now is the time in our profession to educate them that not only do we deserve respect that we demand it, there are not that many of us to go around anymore and getting less. As for the patients, I am an "older nurse" and I have noticed that if I show them respect I get respect back. It is not inappropiate to say to a patient "You can't talk to me that way I am taking care of you." Perhaps going back to My name is Ms/Mr Smith and I am your nurse instead of "Hi, I'm Sally and I'll be your nurse."might help. Sometimes we sound like the server at Denny's....not the professional nurse. So my answer is Colors, no.....Attitude yes

This is a really old formula but it really does work, it came from a AACN publication about 15 to 20 years ago but it works. mg _____ X 16.7 divided by weight in KG = then times rate amount will equal mcg/kg/min example: dopamine 800mg in 250cc= 3.2 X 16.7=53.44 divided by 75kg equals 0.71( this is your cal factor)x rate say 15cc gives a answer of 10.6mcg/kg/min I don't remember where the 16.7 comes from but this formula does work I have kept it on a sticker on the back of my calculator since I found it many years ago and it always matches the answer the new nurses get with their new formulas. Hope you get back in the swing of things okay. from a really old ICU nurse who is still going strong.: